BP
Bert Parnaby
Actor
Born March 4, 1924Died July 30, 1992 (68 years)
James Bertram "Bert" Parnaby (4 March 1924 – 30 July 1992) was a British actor who was notable for a string of TV and Film roles from the 1960s through the 1980s. His TV roles included performances in Blackadder, By the Sword Divided, Juliet Bravo, Inspector Morse and Last of the Summer Wine. In 1988, he appeared as Father Christmas in the BBC adaptation of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. His film credits included Prick Up Your Ears (1987), The Dressmaker (1988) and The Reunion (1989).
Whilst living in Didsbury, Bert was a schoolmaster at Manchester Grammar School during the 1950s and early 1960s. Teaching English, he was greatly involved in the production of teachers’ plays. He subsequently became an HMI (one of Her Majesty's Inspectors of Schools).
On leaving the education profession, Parnaby worked as a producer and performer for the BBC. His monologues on breakfast radio often started ‘I hate …’, for example the edition about the Post Office, which was based on the Didsbury branch, albeit unnamed.
Parnaby died in July 1992 at the age of 68, shortly after the death of his wife Jane. A bench in their memory was later erected in Drummer Street, Cambridge.
Whilst living in Didsbury, Bert was a schoolmaster at Manchester Grammar School during the 1950s and early 1960s. Teaching English, he was greatly involved in the production of teachers’ plays. He subsequently became an HMI (one of Her Majesty's Inspectors of Schools).
On leaving the education profession, Parnaby worked as a producer and performer for the BBC. His monologues on breakfast radio often started ‘I hate …’, for example the edition about the Post Office, which was based on the Didsbury branch, albeit unnamed.
Parnaby died in July 1992 at the age of 68, shortly after the death of his wife Jane. A bench in their memory was later erected in Drummer Street, Cambridge.
Filmography
| 1990 | Nightingales (1990) (TV Series) · as The Inspector |
| 1989 | Reunion · as Dr. Jakob Strauss |
| 1988 | The Dressmaker · as Mr Barnes |
| 1988 | The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1988) (TV Series) · as Father Christmas |
| 1988 | The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe · as Father Christmas |
| 1988 | The Play on One (TV Series) · as Bill |
| 1987 | The Bretts (TV Series) · as Brewster |
| 1987 | Prick Up Your Ears · as Magistrate |
| 1987 | Inspector Morse (TV Series) · as Ben |
| 1986 | First Among Equals (TV Series) · as George Bainbridge |
| 1986 | Casualty (TV Series) · as Billie Jennings |
| 1986 | Lovejoy (TV Series) · as Sorrel |
| 1985 | Daemon · as Mr. Crabb |
| 1984 | Screen Two (TV Series) · as Phone Poet |
| 1983 | Rainy Day Women · as Fleming |
| 1983 | By The Sword Divided (TV Series) · as Sir Austin Fletcher |
| 1983 | My Cousin Rachel (TV Series) · as Seecombe |
| 1983 | Bad News · as Neighbor |
| 1982 | Blackadder (TV Series) · as Cain, A Peasant |
| 1982 | The Comic Strip Presents... (TV Series) · as Neighbour |
| 1982 | Timewatch (TV Series) · as Oliver Cromwell |
| 1981 | Bergerac (TV Series) · as Doctor Ferns |
| 1980 | Juliet Bravo (TV Series) · as Harry Chapman |
| 1978 | All Creatures Great and Small (TV Series) · as Colonel Jenkins |
| 1973 | Last of the Summer Wine (TV Series) · as Jack Harry Teesdale |
| 1970 | Play for Today (TV Series) · as Fleming |
| 1960 | Coronation Street (TV Series) · as Mr. Pollitt |